Posts

The Urban Dictionary Definition of Bo BoGrowing up in South Philadelphia in the early 80's, this term would have been used in the ghetto for any old raggedy ass, nasty, beat up shit kicker that all of the school kids would have accused your mother of buying at the Salvation Army, but usually of the Chuckie's variety. YOU KNOW short top with rubber tip. They were often found hanging, like Christmas ornaments from every telephone line...
In my area of the country, we call anything that's fake, generic, unbranded, or store brand, "Bo Bo." It probably does stem from the reference mentioned above as my first exposure to the term as a kid was in the context of my Mom's shoes. See she's always been quite fond of wearing dirt cheap white Bo Bo sneakers that you buy at the supermarket or Clover (another Philly reference - think ghetto Target) rather than the real Keds or Converse that they resemble. They're like walking with cardboard and paper bags on you…

It was cold this weekend. No, not as cold as it will be in a few weeks, but cold nonetheless. The windchill didn't help much either, and because of that I stayed in for most of the weekend tying flies. Until I got the itch Sunday afternoon... If you're reading this, I know you're familiar with the itch. Damn the itch.

I didn't have a lot of time before the Eagles game started at 4:00. (Which in retrospect, the final score proved there was no reason to rush home to watch football). No trout were in the cards for me today, too much time would be wasted in the car travelling to & from the local trout water. Instead I took a quick jaunt over to Sanatoga Park to see if the cold temps chilled the warmwater fish into hiding.

Upon arrival I immediately got to slingin' bugs on my 3-weight and settled into the casting zone. I could have placed a fly wherever I wanted, which is rare, as my casting is normally erratic at best.

After my morning of Black Friday e-commerce crisis management came to a close yesterday, I thought I'd shoot up to the Stony Creek after work to check in on the morning's trout stocking. By the time I got there the fish were already in the water and a different type of "doorbuster" crowd had assembled.

Not being one to be near the water & not get a line wet, I grabbed the spinning rod from the back of my SUV and tossed out a rooster tail. After catching & releasing a few stockies - nothing to write home about - I caught this guy, (chub, shiner, whatever....) that actually put up a better fight than the trout did. Usually don't catch these unless it's the summer so I was kinda surprised to not see a trout on the end of the line when I reeled it in.

Yeah, not the pretty little brown trout you usually see on here, but I figured this "trash fish" deserved its share of the spotlight today.

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you're all on the computer simply taking a "digestion break" after a day neck deep in turkey, trimmings, & football.

I've been working on a fly for a fly swap I'm participating in, and I think I've settled on a design. It's a tenkara-style fly (of course), but unlike most it's got a red beadhead and brass bottom. I'm calling it the "Tina Louise Kebari" after the actress that played Ginger on Gilligan's Island.

I'd like to try and see if it catches any fish should I happen to get out for an hour or two after work on Friday. If it does, it's gonna be my contribution to the swap. If not...screw it, it still might be anyway.

If you're reading this on Wednesday (like you should), tomorrow is obviously Thursday, which means Thanksgiving! Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, heck maybe even that grab bag of mystery organs that comes inside your bird. Who really eats that? But you know what else it means? Yup, time for the nibbles.

Anybody planning on heading out early in two days for Black Friday deals? Me? Hell no. I'll be working. Internet retail never sleeps or gets a holiday. There's no chance I'd go out shopping if I was off; being around all of those crazies jostling in long lines for $50 HD TVs & whatever other crap you'd normally never buy if it wasn't dirt cheap makes me nauseous. That said, if you're local and would prefer to stand jostling in long lines to get your fill of freshly stocked (& extremely stupid) trout, go to the Stony Creek in Norristown on Black Friday morning. A little birdie told me there's going to be a stocking. Actually, don'…

Let's get this out of the way first. I spent way too much on a new bobbin last weekend. It's my own fault, I'm a sucker for infomercials. See, if the GT Xpress lady was right in front of me like Faruk Ekich was on Saturday, I'd be assaulting my belly with endless "Cookizzas" right now.

Point is, Faruk makes one hell of a presentation...and honestly, one hell of a bobbin.

It's an automatic bobbin that provides a constant tension (if you want it to) and retracts thread for precision control.

The best way I can describe the feel is kind of like one of those "zingers" you attach nippers or a stream thermometer to, but retracts much more gently. The best part is that it takes pretty much any brand & size of thread, and lets you use the factory spool. You don't have to use special spools like you do with the Nor-Vise automatic bobbin.

I considered making a video to show you how it works, but there was already a great one on YouTube, an…

that's how I felt upon entering the International Fly Tying Symposium last Saturday afternoon. I just started tying my own flies in March, and not only was the convention hall's perimeter lined with some extremely talented fly tiers, but there were so many goodies in the interior aisles - sheesh, talk about fly tying overload.

Once my head stopped spinning and I got my bearings, the show was a real treat. Most all of the fly tiers were really friendly & engaging, offering to show you some of their tricks, walk you through the assembly process of the flies they were whipping up, or even give you some tips on how to best fish them. I feel I learned so much just from osmosis over the few hours that I was there, it was definitely worth the hour and a half trip.

Armed with my cameraphone, I snapped some pics of what I thought was cool. The show was dominated by folks tying really fancy salmon flies & Carrie Stevens streamers, so please excuse the slant toward that style…

After returning from the International Fly Tying Symposium yesterday, I felt inspired to tie - and use my new bobbin (more on the bobbin & the show in tomorrow's post).

Anyway, this is my interpretation of a tenkara Sakasa Kebari fly, all beadheaded out, because beadhead nymphs are how I find most of my success locally. I had always wanted to tie one like this, and I consider the design is a branch off the evolutionary tree showed off by Laurent Marshall over at his Tenkara Adventurer blog earlier this year.

As a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan, it's very hard to compliment the Dallas Cowboys...other than their cheerleaders. The Cowboys suck and deserve every profanity, snowball, & D-cell battery that has ever been thrown at them by fellow Eagles drunks fans.

That noted, one of the perks of my day job afforded me the opportunity to go on a behind the scenes tour of "The House That Jerry Built" this past Thursday. Got to go in the locker room, some of the various suites, and of course stand on the turf and look up at the canyon walls of seating soaring up around me.

In two words - F*#@in' Amazing!...and the pictures above certainly don't do it justice. However now that I'm home, that should be the last compliment you ever expect toread about the Cowboys coming from this blog.

A somewhat complimentary post about the Cowboys & a Duke basketball player in the same week - what is wrong with me?

Shame on me. Some legit fishing news happens close to home and I totally missed it.

I hang my head especially low since it involves a 13 year old catching a record bass. Kids outfishing their fathers is always a huge hit on the web. I mean what other than scantily clad women awkwardly gripping fishing rods do most fisherfolk smile at immediately when they see it?

So in the spirit of giving you what you want to see, albeit belated...no, not half naked women donning oversized floatation devices...here's a video and a link to an accompanying article about Juliana and her huge striped bass. I especially like how NBC Philadelphia places this article in their "Weird News" section...what, is the Sports section too much of a stretch?

Way to go Juliana!

P.S. To all of my daily readers. There may not be a post on Friday. As I mentioned in a post last week, I'll most likely be in Dallas as you're reading this, so unless I can figure out how to post something from my da…

Let's kick off this week's installment by mentioning the International Fly Tying Symposium this weekend in Somerset, NJ. All signs are pointing to my attendance on Saturday (no autographs, please) & I'm looking forward to checking out some folks that can really tie, and who knows...maybe take some mad scientist-like ideas (& supplies) back to my vise.

So if anyone out there is going, drop me a line. I'm always open to putting real life faces to some of my blog buddies. Especially if you're sporting a kick-ass handlebar mustache like this guy.

Non fishing subject, but did anybody notice that college basketball started sometime over the past week? Don't worry, I missed it too - but I'm glad it's here. I'm a hoop-head at heart with a mean 3 point set-shot. I would have been deadly in the early 1950s NBA.

The guys over at The Jersey Angler & Fly & Fin have both posted about how the autumn shrapnel leaves have complicated some of their recent fishing outings. Well, let me tell you...it ain't much different in Pennsylvania, as I encountered first hand yesterday.

Yeah, the leaves were numerous, but honestly I have no reason to complain. The temps were in the low 60s (incredible for mid November) and it was a beautiful day. Water levels were a touch low - we haven't had a good rain in a bit - and other than the leaves, the flows were running super clear so I expected nabbing a bunch of little wild brownies to be a little more difficult than usual heading in.

So what did I muster? One brown...with a net shot & an out of focus "hero shot" (my own fault for using my camcorder to take the pics)...oh well, at least the video is passable.

Here are a few other photos that try to illustrate that fishing count aside, how nice a day it was.

I'm not a cell phone person. The only person I really ever call on my cell phone is my wife, and the conversation usually goes like this:

Me: Hey, it's me.KC: When are you coming home?Me: Soon...you want me to pick up dinner on the way?KC: Sure. Get ___________.Me: Okay, see you in a half hour.

All of this is pretty ironic considering in my other aspects of life, I consider myself a tech head. Our house is stocked with digital cameras & camcorders, a blazing fast desktop computer, a netbook, HD TVs, a Nintendo Wii, all that junk, however as we move further into an electronic world where everything seems to go through people's mobile handhelds, this was my phone. No camera, no web, didn't get much more basic than that.

Long overdue (I suppose), I upgraded to a Motorola Defy Android-based phone last night.

The lady at the cell-phone store basically laughed at my old phone and to paraphrase said, "That's a 54 month old model, you suck," and pro…

We all enjoy our trips south - Lilly especially loves visiting Mom Mom & G-Daddy...they have a pool at their house and live right along a canal, which has all kinds of fish, ducks, geese, even the occasional otters pop their heads up from the depths every now and then. It's like a petting zoo 24-7.

It's Wednesday, which means another installment of the nibbles. Fishy stuff & pop culture accumulated from the web, email, & social networks that is just starting to smell bad enough on my hard drive to get rid of it here...

Orvis is the sh*t. No really. Got a postcard in the mail that they're opening up a brand spankin' new store in Plymouth Meeting, PA with a special preview event on the evening of November 18th. Normally I'd go for the free hors d'oeuvres, but I'll be out of town that day. Will be in Big D to be exact - part for business, part on a mission to kindly remind all of the Cowboys fans that their team is 1-7.

Back to Orvis, it's a shame I can't make it, I really wanted to pick up one of these. I think it would keep my Tahitian Treat nice and cold during a day out on the water.

Next up is not necessarily fishing related - but outdoorsy. I'm sure by now everybody's caught the pictures of that Grizzly Bear chasing the …

I read a wonderful post yesterday over at Kiwi's The North River Blog. Please go over there and read it, but the quick synopsis is that his 4-1/2 year old daughter was intrigued by his fly tying, and wanted to help her Dad tie a bug. She picked out all of the colors and Dad tied her one heck of a bug. The "Isabella" is an instant classic sure to catch fish for years to come.

The post really hit home with me as my 4-1/2 year old daughter Lilly took a similar interest in my tying a few weekends ago - the weekend I was tying up the orange woolly bugger for Halloween. Lilly came over to my little fishing nook in our basement and said "Daddy, I want you to tie me a fly." I love the fact that she calls pretty much anything we put on the end of her Barbie rod a fly.

Of course I said OK, how could I not, and I asked her what she wanted it to look like. She was adamant that she wanted it to have "a pink tail and be furry like Caesar (our dog)." I gentl…

I had put together a nice little fishing streak for a few weeks, but like Phillies National League Championships, the run was destined to end sooner or later. Ssor Ydoc Etah I.

I knew I wasn't going fishing on Saturday, and K.C. was a little under the weather on Sunday so I was on full Lilly duty. No worries, although I was getting accustomed to a Monday morning post of some sort of fishing action.

Lacking the proper inspiration, hope this sick video I found over on new blog buddy Angling Addict will suffice. It's a little long, but believe me, well worth it. Rob rocks the kayak like no other.

Oh, with my recent fly tying fetish, also added a new fly-centric blog to the ever-growing blogroll; check out cp's fly fishing and fly tying when you get a chance. It's tight.

So I took all of the suggestions you all threw my way (thank you very much) and headed over to French Creek Outfitters yesterday afternoon to pick up some supplies. French Creek isn't a fly shop per se, but it's the best I've got locally without making a serious trek.

I decided that since I fish beadhead nymphs most often, I'd get some supplies to tie some of those first. Among the things on my shopping list were some hooks (size 14 & 18 - I'm no Small Fly Funk, I don't think I can muster sub 20s yet), beads in both tungsten & brass, multiple colors of 6/0 thread, some copper & lead wire, peacock herl, and some goose biots. Also grabbed some deer hair patches and hackle for future non-related ties.

K.C. was over at the neighbors' house, so last night was "Beadhead Prince Nymph Night" for me, and I turned out about a dozen of these guys. Even though I fish the snot outta these I had never tied one before. Luckily thanks to a YouTub…

Warning: The Subject Matter Covered Below Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Fishing

Ok...you're still here? Cool.

My wife did me a huge solid yesterday. She spotted (& bought me) the ever elusive "Tahitian Treat" soda. I'm not sure if it's available in your area, but it's quite rare in these parts.

I used to drink it often when I was a kid but at some point during my formative years it seemed to go out of circulation locally. K.C. found this magical elixir at the Philly Pretzel Factory and aware of my yearnings captured the wily beast. Furthermore, in realizing her coup, she excitedly snapped this cell phone pic and sent it to me at work.

Yeah, I love this stuff, and it will likely be consumed alongside a cheesesteak (whiz wit) for lunch this afternoon. It's like a freakin' holiday to me; not a time to go half-a**ed.

I don't drink as much soda as I used to. I'm trying to shed a few pounds, so when I do drink the stuff it's usu…

I'm a rookie when it comes to fly tying. I got my first "starters kit" earlier this spring, and it gave me a great introduction into the mechanics of making my own flies. I feel comfortable that I can adequately tie a little bit of everything - dries, wets, streamers, nymphs, even tenkara flies. No, they aren't works of art, but I've improved to the point that I'm not ashamed to take pictures of them and more importantly they are actually effective enough to fool the idiot fish I chase.

That said, it's getting colder, the urge to tie more has grown, and I need to re-stock my materials. I've pretty much used up all of the good stuff that came in my kit at this point.

My short list would be more options (colors) in thread, some wire, foam and leg material for hoppers, perhaps some brass or tungsten beads for nymph heads (my kit only came with glass beads), of course some hooks...I mean the list could really go on and on, I didn't even mention fe…

All he needed to add is that his opponent didn't support "catch & release" and wore felt-soled wading boots and I'd be in. Seriously, it's probably better now that all of those ads are off the TV, because it frees up thirty seconds or so for genius such as this...

Got a nice little package in the mail on Monday from Ben at Arizona Wanderings. He was kind enough to gift me with some flies that he's …

In one final tribute to Lilly's Halloween costume, here's a video (not by me) on how to tie a Zebra midge. Hope you're quick enough on the uptake to make the connection between the two.

Zebras are relatively easy flies to tie and are deadly on trout in the creeks in SE Pennsylvania. They also happen to be the fly that sold me on fishing subsurface, thanks to a generous gift of a handful by a friend.

Believe it or not, Lilly also uses them, not on fly tackle but on her Barbie rod rigged beneath a bobber and a small piece of split shot. The sunfish & bluegill just tear them up! If they are not currently in your fly box, I strongly suggest making some room.

I enjoy Halloween quite a bit. I enjoy it even more now that I get to live it through Lilly. Unfortunately, Lilly developed a 101 degree fever on Saturday which put my her Sunday night trick or treating in jeopardy this year.

With a steady diet of Triaminic grape, Lilly's fever cooled down to 99 degrees around dinnertime, so we decided we'd let her do some abbreviated trick or treating, just around our neighborhood and maybe one or two of the "clusters" of houses in our condo community. Other than the fever, she never displayed any other traits of being sick - sluggishness or pain - so it was a go. Lilly & I were pounding pavement, K.C. was staying back at the house to distribute candy to the masses.
Lilly did great, but tired out pretty quickly. I think we started a little after 6:00 and barely made it to 7:30. Lilly scored 2 big bags of candy (including plenty of our favorite Kit-Kats) and helped give out candy back at the house until 8:00, when we though…